News

February 20, 2009

Petition: Witness to tie judges to D’Elia

Newspaper’s lawyers allege reputed mobster linked to one or both of disgraced judges.

By Jerry Lynott jlynott@timesleader.com
Business Writer
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The potential depth of corruption in Luzerne County Court grew deeper on allegations linking a reputed mobster with one or two of the judges facing sentencing in a kickback scheme.

Attorneys for The Citizens’ Voice newspaper asked the state Supreme Court on Thursday to vacate a $3.5 million defamation verdict on new information that William D’Elia, a central figure in the case, had direct connections to either one or both of the judges, Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan.

The newspaper’s attorneys said they identified a witness, whom they did not name, who will testify about D’Elia links to one or both of the judges.

The attorneys declined comment.

They filed a rarely used King’s Bench Power to overturn the verdict. It is the same legal tactic successfully used by the Juvenile Law Center of Philadelphia to have the state Supreme Court review of all juvenile cases in Luzerne County Court in light of the ongoing investigation.

The paper’s attorneys argued the new information was not available when the state Superior Court last year affirmed the verdict returned by Ciavarella in a non-jury trial in 2006.

In the petition filed with the state Supreme Court, the paper’s attorneys said recent developments in the ongoing probe of the judges’ actions “have fueled rampant rumors and speculation that Judge Conahan and Judge Ciavarella were fixing cases at the behest of William D’Elia, the reputed head of the Bufalino crime family in northeastern Pennsylvania.”

Attorney Al Flora, who represents Ciavarella, said he had not seen the petition and had no further comment.

D’Elia’s attorney, James Swetz, also had no comment.

Conahan’s attorney, Philip Gelso, could not be reached for comment.

Attorneys for Thomas Joseph, the plaintiff in the case, did not return messages left at his office.

In October 2006 Ciavarella awarded Joseph $2 million and $1.5 million to his direct mail marketing firm, Acumark. Joseph sued the paper in 2002 over a series of articles that he said falsely tied him to a money-laundering investigation that involved D’Elia.

The paper reported on an investigation that arose from a series of 2001 searches conducted by federal agents at the residences of D’Elia, Joseph and others.

In the new filing, the paper’s attorneys labeled the administration of the case through the county court system as “suspicious.” They said the judges and court administrator William Sharkey, Conahan’s first cousin, overrode established procedures and policies to make sure the proceedings were assigned to either Ciavarella or Conahan.

Sharkey recently pleaded guilty to charges he stole $70,000 in illegal gambling proceeds that were to be turned over to the county treasurer’s office.

The petition also raised the issue of Conahan’s connection to the First National Community Bank of Dunmore, where he had been a director.

He resigned last month upon the filing of criminal charges against him.

The paper’s attorneys said they subpoenaed documents from the bank to test Joseph’s claim it would not do business with him due to the stories.

They said Conahan refused to recuse himself from the Joseph case even though he was a bank director.

When the paper’s attorneys objected, the case was reassigned to Ciavarella. He ruled against the paper in its request that the bank produce documents to support Joseph’s claim.

Recently the bank obtained a judgment against the judges and their wives and others who guaranteed $4.5 million in loans for W-Cat Inc., a company developing a townhouse project in Mountain Top.

It is not the first time the bank has drawn unwanted attention.

Its chairman, Louis A. DeNaples, stepped down last year, when a grand jury indicted him on charges he lied to state gambling officials about his ties to organized crime figures when he sought a license for Mount Airy Casino Resort in the Poconos.

The case against DeNaples, of Dunmore, was built on the information D’Elia provided to prosecutors, according to a document filed by his attorney, who sought a break for him due to the cooperation.

D’Elia was sentenced to nine years in prison last November for his guilty plea to conspiracy to commit money laundering and attempted witness tampering.

Another one of the townhouse project guarantors, attorney Robert Powell, has been identified as one of the two unnamed participants in the kickback scheme involving the judges.

Powell’s attorney confirmed he was implicated in the judges’ scheme to receive payment for placing juveniles in the PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care detention centers. But they said he was a victim of the judges’ demands for payment.

Powell had at one time been co-owner of the centers. His attorneys said he is cooperating with authorities.

The petition also cited published reports about D’Elia’s connection to the judges. Hank Grezlak, in his Jan. 30 column in the Legal Intelligencer, wrote about rumors of case fixing in the Luzerne County Courthouse and said, “another source told me the investigation of the judges was the result of William D’Elia talking.”

Jerry Lynott, a Times Leader staff writer, can be contacted at 570-829-7237.

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